Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Lottery Company Official Accused of Rigging Lottery Drawings

The former security chief for a national group that operates state
lotteries personally bought two prize-winning tickets in Kansas worth
$44,000, investigators said Monday, bringing to five the number of
states where he may have fixed games to enrich himself and associates.
Investigators recently linked the winning 2010 Kansas tickets to
Eddie Tipton, former security director of the Multi-State Lottery
Association, Iowa assistant attorney general Rob Sand disclosed in court
documents. The evidence will show that Tipton associates who claimed
the prizes returned half of the money in cash directly to him in early
2011, he wrote.
Tipton allegedly purchased two winning tickets to the "2by2" game at
separate locations while traveling through Kansas on business in
December 2010, the Kansas Lottery said. Each was worth $22,000, the
prize for any player with the day's winning numbers, and were allegedly
passed on from Tipton to individuals from Iowa and Texas who claimed
them, the lottery's statement said.
In his job at the association managing lotteries for 37 states and
territories, Tipton managed random number generators that pick winning
numbers for some national games such as Hot Lotto and games played in
individual lotteries.
Kansas Lottery officials said they were asked to look into the 2010
tickets by Iowa investigators earlier this month. Any alleged fixing
happened at the association headquarters in Urbandale, Iowa, where
"2by2" is administered and drawn, they said.